One year of new life part 1

October 2013 (halloween week) was the week that Todd and I got serious about our life. We had been married 8 years...and had experienced more ups and downs and heart aches and pain than I think most people do...at least that I had heard of. (But I mean most people also aren't in the blogging business of discussing the pretty and the ugly..)

This week last year, we sat down and we wrote out a 5 year plan. And we began praying really hard for God to show us His direction. Neither of us had a clue what the next 7 days were going to hold.

As most of you know Todd's mom died on Halloween 2012. it being the one year anniversary I wanted to get away and surround Todd with people he loves. Todd loves his sister Casey. They are only a few months apart ( she is technically his step-sister...but to him (us)...just sister)

I knew being around Casey would make him have an easier day. So I planned for us to go to Atlanta to visit his "Momma Donna", brother and Sister. 

Todd had just started working for his dad's company this week and some of his territory was in Georgia. We got to Atlanta and it was if life just changed.

Within a matter of 36 hours-we knew what God wanted us to do. He wanted us to live here. 

So many people ask how I knew and I can tell you. I hate(d) Georgia. There was nothing about it that I liked. I even disliked visiting because it just made me a wreck. This trip I had spent the week days prior praying for God to work in my heart and show me His plan...that weekend I loved Georgia. Not fell in love...just simply loved Georgia. I saw how happy Todd was with his other family. I saw how beautiful the area was and it was if the hate in my heart was gone.

While we were in Atlanta we went with Todd's "Momma Donna" to look at some houses (she is a realtor) and we found one we loved! But it was under contract already. We went home a bit disappointed but we prayed for God to make it easy if this was what he wanted. 

Within a week-7 days of returning-we had a buyer for our house, the house in Georgia  became ours-and we were moving in the next 3 weeks. 

We literally sat and watched God do everything. We did not pursue moving-it just happened. You can't deny that is your next step when it all is worked out for you.

So, next was to announce to our friends and family we were moving. Which was the hardest part. 

We lived in the best town in Mississippi. I had lived there my whole life. I went to preschool, elementary, middle, high school there. I went to college there. I started my family there. I attended the same Southern baptist church for 25 years...I knew everyone and I was comfortable in my surroundings. Todd had lived there since we were married and he too loved it. We had the greatest school system, church, small group. Our comfort was our surroundings, our friends, our family.

Over the next 3 weeks, every person that loves us helped us clear out stuff, pack, move, load the truck, clean...it was 3 weeks of full love.

Then the time came for us to leave to Georgia and for the most difficult 2 months. The girls and I were going to stay in Mississippi until school was out in December. Todd would be living in Georgia and traveling for work. We had about 7 non-holidays to see him. We survived then-Christmas brought Disney-and then we returned, packed up what was left, and headed to Georgia to began our new lives. The first 5 months we tried making our way to Mississippi atleast once a month. But that got really hard for Aubrie (the leaving each time) and it wasn't allowing us to embrace this life. So we had to make the hard choice to stop going each month-allowing visitors to come here-and start seeing what else God had in store.

The first thing-the most random-was me auditioning for On The Menu. If we hadn't of moved to Atlanta-I wouldn't have known about the audition. (Don't forget my episode is Dec. 5)

The second is our involvement in Northpoint ministries. We loved Andy Stanley studies back in Mississippi-but to be able to attend a church he is involved in wasn't on our radar. It took a lot of praying and soul searching to move from our southern baptist teachings and way of thought-to this "new way" of thinking about church. We both had to come out and say what we wanted our church experience to be. Did we want to be happy in all aspects and comfortable in a small church? Or did we want to be used by God to be His body and reach thousands of non-believers and help them in their growing relationship with Christ? As scary as option 2 was-we went that direction. We took 7 months just attending and praying. Letting God direct what our steps here were going to be. In Mississppi we both taught Sunday life groups. Every Sunday. Sometimes even filling in the second service of someone was out. We invested in these kids and they meant the world to us. So spending 7 months without "church kids" was very, very hard.

Finally in July we decided to join an adult small group-which we now lead. We also decided to get involved in our middle school program. Todd teaches and I help with check in. We have made so many new friends this way and we are so thankful that God put them in our lives.

But during those 7 months prior-I learned what it meant to "be still" and be with God. He had pulled me out of the zone I was comfortable in and placed me in this foreign land without my people. He and I spent many of days and nights talking about what it was he wanted from me. A few months in I realized, he didn't want anything from me-he just wanted me. He knew my planner, control freak self would have a hard time surrendering myself, my thoughts, my life to Him when I was in my element. He knew in order for His plan to be worked out-I would have to be far away and super, super lonely.

I hate to say it took that extreme for me to be obedient. But it did. Tomorrow-I'll share with you just what went down during those first lonely 7 month.